Distraction Tactics
by Deltree
Summary: It’s a standard war tactic; keep the enemy occupied elsewhere in order to allow the true attack an easy win. In an attempt to get the Slayer and friends out of the way the newest Big Bad makes a mistake. Slash
1. Welcome to the Future

Title: Distraction Tactics

Warnings: Slash, established relationships,

Pairings: Spike/Xander, Willow/Tara, Buffy/Angel, slight Cordy/Xander

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or its characters.

Summary: It's a standard war tactic; keep the enemy occupied elsewhere in order to allow the true attack an easy win. In an attempt to get the Slayer's gang out of his way for a takeover, the newest Big Bad makes a mistake.

* * *

- 

Chapter #1: Welcome to the Future

-

**Year 2003**

**-**

Never let it be said that going from standing among library shelves one second to lying face down in carpet the next was not a very disorienting experience. Especially when accompanied by no memory of the actual fall. Or when the aforementioned library didn't have carpet.

"Um" Xander paused to fully take in this new position and his now aching head. "Ow?" Keeping his eyes closed, he removed his face from the carpet and sat up on his knees, rubbing his head. That had really hurt.

And was his hair longer?

"What the—?" Behind him, Buffy's voice sounded a little weak and very confused. Then, voice a little stronger and even more confused, "Xander?"

"Yeah?" He opened his eyes and turned in the direction of her voice only to come to a stop at the actual sight. "Uh . . ." He said intelligently and blinked, "Buffy?" he asked, just to make sure. Because she really didn't look the same.

She looked older. More mature.

Xander blinked again but the picture stayed the same. What the hell?

Buffy was a bit more useful. Recognizing their situation as of the weird, she quickly shook off any shock and jumped to her feet, going into Slayer-mode. Snapping out of his momentary daze, Xander instinctively followed her lead, standing on his suddenly bare feet and scanning the room for enemies and potential weapons.

They were in an apartment. The living room of an apartment.

From what he could tell, it was obviously lived in; posters on the wall and the random clutter that came with a home spread throughout the room. Movies littered the floor near his feet, and a pile of junk food had been collected on the coffee table, open sodas included.

No enemies were in sight and, on the scale-o-evil, Xander would have to give it a 2.

He relaxed.

"Xander?" came a somewhat weak voice from somewhere behind him, "Buffy?"

Turning in that direction, he was again surprised to see Willow, also older and standing at the entrance to what he assumed was a kitchen, absently removing the last bits of popcorn in her suddenly shorter hair.

"Wills" he asked, surprised by the sight. What was she _wearing_?

"Oh thank god." Taking this as a confirmation of his identity and looking relieved, Willow fully entered the room. "Do you guys know what happened? I could've sworn I was just in the library, but then I'm lying in this pile of popcorn in this strange kitchen with a really bad headache, and I'm wearing different clothes and my hair's short and you guys look so different. Weren't you in the library too? Where are we? Is Giles here?"

"I don't know." Buffy still looked a little suspicious, but had relaxed in the face of the sheer normality of their surroundings. "To all of the above."

"But we _were_ just in the library, right?" Xander turned back to face Buffy, thankful to look away from the freaky sight of Willow in flattering clothing. She was like his sister for God's sake.

Buffy looked around again, obviously just as lost as he was. "Well, we _were_ . . ."

"Okay good. . ." Xander nodded to himself, thankful for the reassurance to his continuing sanity. "And we've now been instantaneously transported into someone else's home, and are now wearing someone else's clothing?"

At this, Willow looked down and picked at her short shirt self-consciously. Buffy looked up at him with a shrug. "I guess so."

"And we all look older?"

Even though this fact had already been noticed, the three couldn't help themselves from quickly looking around to examine each of the others. Willow nodded.

"And this _isn't_ some freaky bizarre dream?"

Buffy turned her examining toward the room, looking at it with critical eyes. Then made a face at an older poster of some band she didn't know. "An empty apartment with ugly posters and weird stains?" She gave a portion of the carpet a look, bringing Xander's attention to the dark stain almost hidden by the coffee table. "Not exactly something I normally dream of."

"True," Xander allowed, "And obviously not something from _my_ head. No naked ladies in sight." Hair in his eyes, Xander reached up to push it back, paused midway, and pulled the hair back to into his line of view to give it a strange look. It _was_ longer.

"Maybe it's an illusion?" Buffy guessed.

"I don't know." Having walked around to take a seat on the couch during this exchange, Willow bounced a bit on the cushions and frowned slightly. "It feels real . . ." picked up a stray mini-Snickers wrapper left on the couch.

"And detailed." Xander added, giving up on his hair and flopping down next to Willow. He eyed the chocolate sitting on the table suspiciously and reached out to grab a piece. "Do you think this is poisoned?" he asked, bringing the candy up to his nose for a sniff.

Buffy ignored his question as she considered the situation "Then, maybe a . . . a dream-world, or something?"

Chewing the candy he had decided was safe and shoved in his mouth, Xander looked up at her. "I thought we'd already ruled those out."

"Not _dream_-dream, I mean like . . . like, you know, that whole dimension-thing," Buffy waved a hand around as she tried to explain, "Only, just dimensiony, not alternate."

Xander visibly brightened, sitting up straighter. "You mean, like a pocket dimension?"

"Yeah, sure," Buffy said, obviously not quite sure what that meant, "One of those things."

"I don't know." Willow said uncertainly, looking around again, "I've always kinda thought those things would look a little . . ."

"Not like this," Xander finished with a decisive nod, "This is all just a little too normal. Pocket dimensions should have these weird swirls of fog and start to blur or fade into nothing at the edges. And the ceiling should be blue and this junk food should be glued to the table. And everything should be really warped and funky looking because the dimension is actually shaped like a ball. And there should be some type of deep and creepy voice coming from nowhere to cackle and explain what's going on before killing us slowly." For a moment, Xander seemed to drift off into his own little sci-fi geek world. "That would be so cool." Then he paused as he seemed to think this through a little more. "Well, maybe not so much the killing-thing."

"Well then I can't figure out what's going on," Buffy said, looking frustrated, "Where's the heck's Giles?"

"Oh, yeah," Willow said, looking up, "I hope he's okay."

"Yeah," Buffy said, starting to make her way towards the door. "Me too."

"You think he's still at the library?" Xander asked, grabbing one last candy bar and standing up. "Maybe he got grabbed too."

Opening the door, Buffy paused, looking back at him with a frown. "Wouldn't he have been with us if he was?"

* * *

Fifteen minutes and one vamp-staking later, the three stood on the sidewalk, trying to process what was in front of them. 

"Well that's not good." Xander frowned.

The three of them had easily left the apartment and walked to the school, thus proving that they had not been kidnapped in any way. Now they had arrived at the school, only to find no school. There were only the under construction destroyed remains of a school.

"At least it doesn't seem like this is new," Xander continued. "So it didn't just explode a few minutes ago."

Slowly coming out of her shock, Buffy looked at him. "But that's just the thing. This doesn't seem like it's new. We were just here."

"This . . ." Willow slowly shook her head. "This doesn't make any sense."

Slowly, an idea was forming in Xander's head. It was crazy but it would just be so cool.

Turning to his now older girls, he asked, "You don't think, that, maybe," he grinned, "we're in the future?"

Willow looked at him with wide eyes. "The future? But that . . ." She seemed to turn the idea over in her mind. "That actually makes sense."

"Yeah . . ." Buffy frowned, turning away from the school remains. "Or maybe an alternate reality."

"But that wouldn't explain our new looks." Xander pointed out, getting excited. He couldn't believe this. This was a sci-fi geek's dream come true. "And that apartment?" he continued, "It could've been one of ours and that's why we woke up there and why it seemed like it was set up for a movie night with friends. Because it was!" He bounced. "Oh, this is so cool. We _need_ to find Giles."

"Yeah, we do." Buffy gave him a pointed look. "It's late and we need to figure out what's going on."

"But I just told you. We're in the future!"

Willow smiled, "I think she means how we got here and why."

"Oh, yeah. Okay." Xander nodded, his enthusiasm not dimmed in the least by the thought of this situation being of the bad. "Do you think he still lives in the same place?"

Buffy looked determined as she turned and started walking towards Giles' condo. "He'd better."

* * *

Giles answered the door in a simple pair of slacks and a t-shirt. 

"Whoa G-man," Xander said, stepping back in surprise, "What happened to the tweed?"

Giles blinked, confused by the reaction. "Ex - excuse me?"

Buffy ignored them. "We have a problem," she said, all business.

"Oh? What kind of problem?" Giles asked, stepping back to allow the three of them to enter.

"A big one," Buffy answered, stepping in the door, "But first. Did you know that the school's been destroyed?"

Giles frowned, confused by the question. "Of course, I did. That's not something I'm likely to forget."

"Right," Buffy said, nodding. That confirmed it. This wasn't their Giles. "And what year is it?"

"2003," Giles answered, only getting more worried. Why would she need to ask a question like that?

"2003?" Xander exclaimed from his spot on the couch, sitting up in surprise. "That's . . ." he tried to do the math quickly, using his fingers as he counted down. "That's six years," he finally said. "Woah."

Giles turned to Xander, still confused, "I'm sorry?"

Buffy sighed. "I don't think we are who you think we are."

Giles turned back to her, starting to look suspicious. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm Buffy, but I'm not the Buffy that you know." She paused to consider this, "Well no, actually, you do know me; you're just expecting me to be a different me. We're us, we're just a different us, you know?"

Giles blinked, even more confused. "Not quite but please do continue."

Buffy took a deep breath and got to the point. "We're not supposed to be here like this. We think we're from the past."

"And just what makes you think that?"

"Oh, I dunno, maybe the fact that we have absolutely no idea what's happened in the past six years?"

"It could simply be a matter of amnesia," Giles said, and then turned to the others, "And are you all like this?"

Xander and Willow nodded.

"Yeah."

"Uh-huh."

"Interesting," Giles said, looking contemplative before going over to his bookshelf and thumbing through a few of the volumes, looking for a book, "And just what year do you think it is?" he asked over his shoulder.

"1997," Buffy answered.

"Right." Giles began pulling out book after book. "Well, I'm not sure what has happened but I'm sure that one of these books will tell us. Um, here." He began to pass out the books.

Xander groaned miserably. "Aw man. More research. I wanted to go out and see the future."

Giles frowned and looked at him. "That . . .that may not be the best of ideas, Xander. If you – if you really are from the past and this isn't just some kind of, um, am – amnesia, then that could have a disastrous effect on the timeline and—

"Yeah, yeah. I get it," Xander cut in, waving a hand. "No walk-abouts for the Xand-man. You really are no fun."

"I'm not trying to be."

* * *

TBC? 


	2. The Other Side

Title: Distraction Tactics

Warnings: Slash, established relationships,

Pairings: Spike/Xander, Willow/Tara, Buffy/Angel, slight Cordy/Xander

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or its characters.

Summary: It's a standard war tactic; keep the enemy occupied elsewhere in order to allow the true attack an easy win. In an attempt to get the Slayer's gang out of his way for a takeover, the newest Big Bad makes a mistake.

* * *

-

Chapter #2: The Other Side

-

**Year 1997**

-

Buffy woke up with a headache; a headache that was not helped any by the rather loud "What the hell?" that had woken her up. Groaning softly, she sat up and looked around.

Once she had realized where she was, she inwardly agreed that the 'What the hell?' sentiment was right. This was not Spike and Xander's apartment.

Behind her, she heard Giles' voice--"Was that really quite necessary, Xander?"—and turned to look as Xander answered, "Yes. Yes it was."

A really young Xander.

A skinnier, shorter Xander with short hair and a really ugly Hawaiian t-shirt.

Buffy had gotten used to a tall and muscular Xander wearing Spike-approved clothing, so seeing him like this was just weird. And she bet that she and Willow had also become younger and that was weird too.

Well on her way to a minor freak-out, Buffy was interrupted by the sound of a soft voice. "Are we there yet?"

Buffy turned to find Willow lying nearby, slowly opening her eyes and sitting up. And Buffy had been right. She was young. Long hair and all.

"Yeah, we're here." Buffy gave a weak smile. "Wild trip, huh?"

Willow looked over at the sound of Buffy's voice, and, seeing her, paused. "You look different."

"You mean young?"

Willow nodded slowly, "Yeah . . ."

Buffy shrugged, acting as casual as she could. "Yeah, well, look at Xander. Look at the room."

"The room . . ?" Taking in the books, the tables, the space, Willow's eyes widened. "Oh my Goddess." She turned quickly back to Buffy and said quietly. "We're . . ?"

"Yep."

"That spell . . . it . . ."

"Giles."

"What?"

Giles had finally noticed the two girls sitting up and talking quietly. So, turning off the flashlight he had been using to check Xander for a concussion, he made his way to their side. "And how are you two feeling?"

They both gave him a nervous smile and told him they felt fine.

"Are you sure?"

Buffy nodded, "Yep. We're doing great. I mean I have a headache, but other than that, total greatness."

"Yes, of course," Giles said, "But if could check . . . ?" gesturing at her eyes and Buffy nodded.

As Giles shined the flashlight in each of their eyes, Xander walked over, beginning to get impatient.

"So do you know what happened?"

Giles, assuming that Xander was asking him, became flustered and said as he stepped away from Willow, "Oh, er, well, no, I—

And Buffy's answer didn't help. '"You mean besides the obvious?"

"What?" Giles looked over at Buffy then turned to look at Xander when he continued.

"I mean, did what I think happen, really happen, or is this some kind of weird hallucination or dream-world, in which case we should be prepared for the huge and almost unstoppable demon which will be charging in here at any moment?"

"Excuse me?" Now Giles was confused.

Willow kicked her legs and looked down, ignoring Giles to answer Xander. "I think what you think is happening is really happening."

"How can you tell?" Buffy asked, tugging at her mini-skirt. She didn't remember wearing her skirts this short.

"Well, for one thing, we aren't trying to kill each other," Willow answered, "Plus, if it was a dream-world, there would be more latent energy, and, if it were a hallucination, I don't think it would be this calm. Or make this much sense."

"This makes sense?" Xander asked.

Frustrated now, Giles frowned. "Pardon me. But are you saying that you know what happened?"

The three teens shared an uncomfortable look as Buffy and Xander seemed to turn to Willow for help.

"Do we tell him?" Buffy asked.

Willow looked unsure. "I don't know. Wouldn't it hurt," she gave the two a significant look, "you know . . . stuff?"

"Well, we kinda have to, don't we?" Xander asked, "I mean, we'll need him to help us."

Buffy shook her head. "We can research it on our own. It can't be too hard." Then, looking unsure, she turned to Willow again. "Can it?"

Xander shook his head in return. "It doesn't matter. We'll need to use the library and he's in the library."

"We can work around that." Buffy shot back and looked ready to describe exactly how they could do so when she was interrupted by Willow and another significant look.

"And we've been talking right in front of him, so I think he's already suspicious."

Buffy and Xander, a little embarrassed, turned to find Giles watching the discussion with a curiously amused look on his face.

Buffy gave a quiet, "Oops."

Giles just smiled a little. "Yes, quite."

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You're from the future."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah."

"But you still look the same as you always have at this time."

"Exactly," Willow said.

"And all of this," waving a hand in a vague gesture to encompass the situation, "happened in the last five minutes?"

"I know," Xander said, smiling. "Wild, huh?"

"Yes," Giles said, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes wearily, "Wild."

"There was a spell," Willow began seriously, frowning to herself as she remembered, "I don't quite remember what it was, but I remember there being something strange about it. Like it was almost twisted in a way."

Giles looked up, seeming a little surprised as he put his glasses back on. "You are able to tell the differences in casting just by feel?"

Willow blushed and looked down at her lap modestly. "A little. Tara's the one who's really good at it."

"Tara?" Giles asked, looking curious.

"Yeah, she's my, um . . ." About to tell him the truth, Willow seemed to remember where and when she was and finished with, "She's just someone we know."

Giles nodded, understanding. "Right."

"So do you think this can be fixed?" Xander asked, "'Cuz I kinda have work tomorrow and this, you know, makes that a little difficult."

"Hey, I have school," Buffy said to no one, blinking as she remembered. She turned to Giles. "We don't have to get this fixed _too_ quickly, you know. We don't want to rush you. If there's something else that you were doing, we can wait."

Xander frowned at her. "We have to go to school here too, you know. And I don't know about you but I'm not exactly looking forward to repeating high school again. I still have nightmares from the first time around."

"And I'm afraid that there aren't any major crises that need to be attended to as of right now," Giles said, turning to her calmly, "Just the usual demon activity."

Buffy brightened at the news. "Anything you need me to kill?"

Giles gave her a strange look at her enthusiasm.

"I mean slay," Buffy hurried to correct herself. "Anything you need me to slay?" she asked, her enthusiasm not curbed in the least.

"Well there is one thing . . ." Giles began, obviously not completely sure he should give her the assignment. "A Norck'insanji demon has recently taken up residence in the old theatre house. I'm afraid it's been eating the old ladies who go there."

"Okay, good," Buffy nodded, jumping down from her seat on the table. "I'll go do that. You guys get to the books."

"Um . . . Buff?" Xander said, smirking good-naturedly. Spike's influence probably. "Don't you think you should ask _how_ you kill it?"

At this, Buffy started to look a little unsure. "It's not something nasty, is it?" She turned to Giles, looking for reassurance. "Tell me it's not something nasty."

"Well," Giles cleared his throat, not saying anything.

"It's something nasty?" Buffy asked, voice dismayed.

"It's goat urine, actually," Giles told her.

"Goat pee? _Eww_." Buffy closed her eyes and shook her hands like she was trying to get something off of them, totally grossed out. "Why does it always have to be something totally gross? Can't it ever be something _normal_?"

"Goat urine is a standard— Giles started.

"Yeah." Buffy interrupted, opening her eyes with one last grossed out flick of her wrist, "Don't care. Just give me my goat pee and I'll be gone."

"Well, I don't exactly have any on me at the moment. We'll need to go the magic shop."

"The magic— " Buffy started, then looked enlightened, "Oh _yeah. _You don't own that here."

"Buffy," Willow hissed in warning, not wanting Buffy to give away future events lest it affect the timeline.

"What?" Giles asked, confused.

"Buffy," Willow said again, "Buffy, don't."

"What was that?" Giles asked, looking curious.

"Nothing," Getting Willow's warning, Buffy widened her eyes to show her sincerity. "I didn't say anything." Xander snickered and, not looking away from Giles, Buffy quickly punched him, careful not to use her full strength.

"_Ow_," Xander said, holding his shoulder and giving Buffy a dirty look. "That hurt. I'm gonna tell Spike you hit me."

Giles caught that and looked even more confused. "Spike?"

"_Xander_," Willow hissed. "Xander, be quiet."

Xander looked at Willow, not seeming to get why she was hissing at him, but then the knowledge seemed to come to him and he turned to Giles, eyes wide. "What? Spike?"

Giles frowned. "Didn't you say Spike?"

"No." Xander shook his head, eyes wide to show his sincerity. "_No_. I didn't say anything. You must be hearing things."

Giles didn't look convinced. "No. I heard you quite clearly. You said you would tell _Spike_ that Buffy hit you. Is that someone else you know?"

"No. No." Xander wildly shook his head, eyes wide. "I mean," Xander changed his mind, deciding to go a different way, "I mean, yes. Yes. Someone else. Someone else you don't know. Definitely _not_ the vampire. You meet him _years_ from now. Forget I ever mentioned him."

Willow closed her eyes and put a hand over her face, unable to look anymore after Xander's horrible lie. If anything, Buffy's eyes widened even more, some part of her thinking that maybe that would make the lie more believable.

"Yes . . ." Giles was starting to look suspicious, feet slowly inching him towards the check-out desk, hand creeping over to where he kept a cross underneath the piles of books.

"Xander," was all Willow said, looking up at again and regarding her best friend reproachfully.

Xander turned to her, looking apologetic. "Sorry."

"You've gotten Giles all suspicious of us," Willow said, throwing a hand in the direction of the man, who was still trying to be sneaky and inching ever closer to his desk. "He probably thinks we're evil now."

Xander looked even sorrier. "I didn't mean to. It just slipped out."

Meanwhile, Giles had gotten to his desk and discretely handled his cross, bringing it behind his back. "Now I don't know who all of you are, but you certainly aren't who you say you are."

Buffy looked hurt. "Giles. It's still us."

Giles glared at her. "The Buffy I know wouldn't associate with those that associate with vampires." He glared in Xander's direction to show just who he meant by that.

Xander didn't like that and frowned. "The Buffy you know _dated_ a vampire. She fell in _love_ with a vampire. Just because I'm not the Slayer, does that mean I can't do the same?"

"You . . ." Giles cut himself off, strangled by his own shock, eyes wide. Visibly shaking it off, he got himself under control and went back to glaring. "Now I _know_ you aren't who you say you are. The Xander I know is quite heterosexual and against vampires."

"Yeah, well, I get over the vampire-thing and I'm really not quite as straight as you think. I remember I had this one fantasy in high school about—

"Xander!" Willow hissed irritably, carefully getting off the table, "Now is really not the time."

Mouth still open to talk, Xander looked at her then seemed to get what she meant and closed his mouth with a snap. "Right," he said, looking a little embarrassed. "Sorry."

"And we can _prove_ to you that we're telling the truth," Buffy said, getting them back on track as she looked to her Watcher earnestly.

Giles still looked suspicious. "And how exactly are you going to do that? All vampires share the memories of the host body completely. There is nothing they wouldn't know."

Realizing he was right, Buffy looked disappointed. "Oh. Right."

"Maybe . . . a truth spell?" Willow suggested hesitantly, coming into the conversation.

Giles turned to her with narrow eyes. "You would willingly submit yourself to such a spell?"

Willow nodded seriously. "I would."

"Me too," Buffy said brightly.

"I wouldn't," Xander said, shaking his head and holding his hands up as he backed away a step. "There are really just some things that you do _not_ need to know about me."

Giles frowned and turned his cross on Xander suspiciously.

"Xander," Willow said reproachfully. "You're making him suspicious again."

"So? Let him be suspicious. You are _not_ putting that spell on me. Shouldn't it be enough that you two are doing it?" Xander asked, frowning at Willow, "I mean, you would know if I was evil or not, wouldn't you?"

"You are the one who's affiliated with Spike," Giles said with narrow eyes. "As far as I know, they are not and so it really is imperative that you undergo the spell as well." He moved the cross a little closer to Xander as he continued, "Unless you have something to hide, of course."

"I'm not hiding anything!" Xander protested, "I just really prefer to keep my sex life a secret and you _know_ you're gonna ask about Spike!"

"Er, yes." Giles looked like he had stepped in something foul. "Well, I promise to, ah, refrain from asking any questions that may relate to your . . ." Obviously this part was a little hard for Giles to say, "your sex life," he was finally able to finish.

At this, Xander sighed. "Fine. Fine," he said, waving his hands in defeat. "I'll do the stupid spell."

"Good," Giles said and backed away, carefully keeping them in sight. "Then I should have the supplies in my office. Why don't you three just, ah, just stay here while I go prepare."

Xander put his hands up to show defeat again and leaned back against the table. Willow put on a smile and tried to look as unthreatening as possible as she hopped back up to sit on the table, Buffy following her example next to her.

They settled in to wait.

* * *

TBC?


End file.
